Atlantic Sands hosts 51-year tradition
Built in 1955, the Atlantic Sands Hotel has stood as a relatively unchanged landmark on the Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk for as long as many people can remember.
As one of the most popular accommodations in town, it has been a place where vacationers have built memories filled with sand and sun, waves, and plenty of fun. While the staff at the Sands has booked thousands of guests over the years, one family has made quite an impression as a loyal customer. In fact, the family has kept the longest-running reservations on record at the location, having not missed a summer since 1958.
A World War II veteran, Dr. Donald Malick of Pennsylvania, found the hotel when President Dwight D. Eisenhower was in office. One summer at the location was all it took, he said, and his family instantly became hooked on the beachfront property.
With a central location in town, a luxurious pool and spectacular oceanfront views the hotel offers, the doctor, his wife Dorothy and their three children found everything they needed for a fun-filled vacation.
While his family may have grown and relocated over the years, the annual trip to the Sands is one tradition that has remained unchanged.
“There is no doubt that Rehoboth Beach means vacation to my family,” said Malick, while sitting poolside at the Sands in early August. “For a while now, we have booked four rooms at the hotel for one week during the summer and as many as 30 members of the family have joined us.”
Now with three children, eight grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren, the family boasts four generations of Rehoboth Beach summer vacationers, he said. After all these years, the Sands still provides a great setting that never gets old, he added, being that fun in the sun is timeless.
“I can remember coming here at a very young age, going to the beach in the morning and going to places like Funland at night,” said Malick’s son, Ronald Malick. “One thing that I like is that my kids were able to enjoy the same things growing up – like bumper cars and Grotto pizza – that I enjoyed as a child.”
Malick said that even though his family now hails from North Carolina, and other members of the family live in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, the long drive is well worth the trip.
In fact, his family enjoys their stays at the beach so much that Malick’s son, Garrett, plans to be married next May in Rehoboth Beach.
“We just love everything about the beach here and the fact that when we come down, all of our family is with us,” said Malick. “[We] plan to be here for years to come.”
Malick added that in all of their summers in Rehoboth, the service at the Atlantic Sands has kept them more than happy.
“The Atlantic Sands has been fantastic. In all the years that we have stayed here, the staff has always been cordial, professional, and they have gone out of their way to make us feel at home,” he said. “That is one of the reasons why we have had such long-running reservations here.”
According to Atlantic Sands General Manager Tim Goff, the Malicks are not the only family that has made the hotel their annual vacation home. Several families have booked rooms at the hotel for the last 30 and 40 years, he said, but the Malick family has clearly stayed there the longest.
